Tulsa Claims 75-67 Win at UCF Sunday

Sunday, February 21

Orlando, Fla.

1:00 p.m.

Tulsa

18-9, 10-5AAC

UCF

11-14, 5-9AAC

Tulsa

UCF

Tulsa Claims 75-67 Win at UCF Sunday

2/21/2016 4:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Eric Hollier

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. – Pat Birt scored 26 points and Marquel Curtis recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tulsa basketball team to a 75-67 win at UCF Sunday afternoon at CFE Arena.

The Golden Hurricane improved to 18-9 overall and 10-5 in American Athletic Conference play, ahead of a big home game Tuesday night against Temple. Shaquille Harrison scored 14 points and James Woodard added 10 points for TU. Matt Williams scored 16 points to lead the Knights (11-14, 5-9 American).

"I thought it was a gritty performance by our guys," Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith said. "We came in and played with great toughness. Give UCF credit: they played hard too. I'm just really proud of how we executed down the stretch, defensively and offensively."

Tulsa shot 46 percent from the field and had just eight turnovers, with five blocks and five steals. The Hurricane held UCF to a .385 field goal percentage, and the Knights finished with a 40-35 rebound advantage. Both teams put up 36 points in the paint.

The Hurricane scored 14 of its final 19 points in the paint or at the free throw line, pulling away from a 56-54 lead to the eight-point win. TU made 17-of-28 foul shots in the game, but connected on 8-of-10 in the final 1:32 of the game.

Tulsa led, 36-22 at the half, but saw its advantage shrink to nine points, 46-37, with 15:01 to play after a 3-pointer by A.J. Davis. A free throw by Brandon Swannegan brought the lead to 47-37, but the Knights continued a run that included three straight 3-pointers from Adonys Henriquez countered by a Curtis layup, making the score 49-46 with 12:15 remaining.

The teams alternated baskets until Birt made a layup made the score, 55-50, at the 10:15 mark. UCF cut the lead to two, 56-54, with 7:46 remaining, but TU responded with consecutive layups by Harrison and Curtis, and a dunk by D'Andre Wright off the feed from Harrison to extend its lead to 62-54. The Knights again pulled as close as 62-59 at the 4:09 mark, but the Hurricane went on a 7-0 run to make the score 69-59 with 1:32 to play.

Curtis, who also added four assists, tallied eight points, eight rebounds and two steals in a big second half performance. Birt had 16 points and three 3-pointers by halftime. Rashad Smith scored nine points in the game, but missed the final 14 minutes with an injury. TU shot 48 percent in the first half, while limiting UCF to 26 percent from the floor.

With the game tied, 7-7, at the 14:19 mark of the first half, the Hurricane went on an 8-0 run to move ahead, 15-7. Smith's jumper sparked the run, capped by a Harrison layup. UCF cut the lead to 16-13 with 8:48 to go in the half, but Tulsa responded with a 9-0 to extend its advantage to 25-13.

The Knights pulled as close as 25-18 with 4:17 left in the half, but Birt knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 28-18. After a Justin McBride layup, Woodard and Birt hit back-to-back threes to extend the lead to 34-20, and the Hurricane took a 36-22 advantage into the intermission.

The Golden Hurricane will have a quick turnaround as it returns home to play host to conference first place Temple at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Follow Tulsa Men's Basketball on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TUMBasketball, Instagram at https://instagram.com/tulsambasketball/ and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaMBasketball. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane, Instagram at www.instagram.com/tulsahurricanepics and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. For all news and information about Tulsa Basketball, go to www.TulsaHurricane.com.